b. 1799
d. 1859-02-28
William Brotchie was a native of Caithness, Scotland. He served on the Hudson's Bay
Company brig
Dryad in
1831, becoming a second mate in
1832.
From 1835 to 1838 he commanded the
Cadboro for the Hudson's Bay Company, and in
1839 he commanded the
Nereide. In
1849 he served on the company's ship
Albion. Brotchie quit sailing to cut spars for the Royal Navy but was unsuccessful.
In
1858, he was appointed Harbour Master for
Vancouver Island; he died on
28 February 1859, after a long illness.
Gazette, 3 March 1859; Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 164; VI 28.2.